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Food Riots As Representations of Insecurity : Examining the Relationship Between Contentious Politics and Human Security

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Food Riots As Representations of Insecurity : Examining the Relationship Between Contentious Politics and Human Security This is a repository copy of Food riots as representations of insecurity : examining the relationship between contentious politics and human security. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/140262/ Version: Accepted Version Article: O'Brien, Thomas Anthony orcid.org/0000-0002-5031-736X (2012) Food riots as representations of insecurity : examining the relationship between contentious politics and human security. Conflict, Security and Development. pp. 31-49. ISSN 1467-8802 https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667660 Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. 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[email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor and Francis in Conflict, Security and Development on 15 March 2012, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667660 Food Riots as Representations of Insecurity: Examining the Relationship between Contentious Politics and Human Security Thomas O’Brien Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom [email protected] The 2007-08 global food crisis saw the eruption of a wave of contentious action across the developing world, represented most clearly by the food riot. Food riots are sudden, unexpected events, presenting a challenge to the state that moves beyond simple demands for food. The upheaval caused by a food riot can lead to lasting instability and violence as social and political structures are challenged. The aims of the article are to: 1) identify the character of contemporary food riots in relation to traditional forms, and 2) determine the extent to which food riots can be seen to represent broader human insecurity, and 3) demonstrate the utility of contentious actions in demonstrating insecurity. This article examines the causes of the 2007-08 wave of food riots in relation to earlier manifestations. The findings show that the contemporary food riots have similar origins to their historical counterparts. The article also shows that food riots are a clear sign of insecurity, demonstrating the benefit of examining contentious politics in this context. Introduction On the 31 March 2008, a demonstration organised by civil society organisations in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire against rising food prices degenerated into a riot: “[a]t the height of the demonstration, before riot police started firing tear gas…around 1,500 protestors [chanted] ‘we are hungry’ and ‘life is too expensive, you are trying to kill us.’”1 Similar scenarios were repeated in over thirty countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East in 2007-08, as global This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor and Francis in Conflict, Security and Development on 15 March 2012, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667660 increases in food prices resulted in demonstrations and riots. Although the changes in food prices that precipitated the riots emerged on global markets due to a range of complex factors, the protests were not universal in the affected regions, they were concentrated instead in particular states. The emergence of food related protest was linked to national and local factors rather than to the operation of international institutions.2 Food riots have a long and varied history, being especially prominent in eighteenth century Britain. The most common target of these contentious episodes tended to be persons or groups responsible for managing or distributing food. These protests were generally limited in their scope and aims, but could escalate in times of political crisis.3 The recent manifestations have been wider, with protests against food price rises being used as cover to challenge the governance of the state. Instead of simply being protests over access to food, these actions should be seen as representations of broader insecurity.4 Food security emerged as part of the attempt to develop a comprehensive conception of security, under the rubric of human security, although it has lost some influence as the concept of human security has narrowed. The shift of focus of security from the state to the individual represented by human security has raised significant issues regarding access to resources, and the implications for security more generally. Recent waves of food riots in the developing world illustrate the importance of these apparently ‘soft’ forms of security, such as food security. Where the state is unable to ensure the human security of its population, its legitimacy may be called into question. The scene described above demonstrates the importance of economic insecurity in driving the protest, while the reaction of the state, with force being used in place of negotiations, may indicate an absence of political security. 2 This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor and Francis in Conflict, Security and Development on 15 March 2012, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667660 Examining food riots provides an opportunity to assess community perceptions of insecurity in the broad sense embodied by human security. Food riots are a form of contentious politics, which Tarrow defines as “what happens when collective actors join forces in confrontation with elites, authorities, and opponents around claims or the claims of those they claim to represent.”5 The focus on the claims of groups within society – expressed through demonstrations, riots, strikes, petitions, civil disobedience, and even revolution – provides a mechanism to identify challenges to human security expressed from below. The focus on contentious politics provides an opportunity to consider challenges to individuals and communities that lie at the core of human security. Although contentious actions involve groups/crowds, they are able to express issues of concern to their participants that may not be considered otherwise. The study of forms of contentious politics therefore provides an opportunity to identify human insecurity, and its potential sources. A focus on food riots allows a real-world consideration of the relationship between contentious politics and human security. This article considers the recent wave of food riots that took place in 2007-08 in the context of human security. The aims of the article are to: 1) identify the character of contemporary food riots in relation to historical forms, and 2) determine the extent to which food riots can be seen to represent broader human insecurity, and 3) consider the utility of contentious actions in demonstrating insecurity. The first section provides an overview of the literature on food riots, providing a historical framework within which the recent events can be located. Following this, the article examines the scope of the riots that took place in 2007-08, considering the international factors that influenced conditions at the domestic level. The third section 3 This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor and Francis in Conflict, Security and Development on 15 March 2012, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667660 of the article outlines the relationship between contentious politics and human security with regard to the nature of food riots. Food Riots and Contentious Politics Contentious politics are an important component in all political systems. As noted above in the definition by Tarrow, contentious politics is a broad concept, capturing a range of different actions and participants. An important aspect of contentious politics is that they are shaped by the context within which they operate, with participants making use of the tools they have to hand. These actions are also constrained or enabled by the character of the political system within which they emerge. The reliance on recognised and understood practices is captured in the notion of repertoires of contention. Repertoires in this sense are actions that are adopted and repeated in subsequent actions, leading Charles Tilly to argue that: In principle, we could imagine repertoires varying from non-existent to rigid, depending on the extent to which one experience with the making of collective claims affects the next experience…[and that] all participants in contention learn continuously as they interact. That includes claimants, objects of claims, third parties, and observers.6 Therefore, contentious actions are built on recognised behaviours shaped by the actions and reactions of the participants and those impacted. Variety in the nature of contentious actions derives from attempts to manipulate claims and utilise practices to enable the greatest chance of success. Food riots were an important form of collective action in eighteenth-century Britain. While access to sufficient food lies at the heart of this form of protest, it provides an opportunity to press other related claims.7 Examining food riots in southwest Britain during the eighteenth
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